John Dobson Journalist Profile

Articles

Property lost in Arthur River fire as several emergencies threaten towns in southern WA

Jan 24, 2025 | abc.net.au | John Dobson |Peter Barr |Clare Negus

At least two houses have been lost with fears for more as a series of bushfires hit southern Western Australia. A home has been lost near Arthur River, south-east of Perth, after several fires broke out as gusty winds and hot weather hit the Great Southern and Wheatbelt. Emergency warnings remain in place for at least two bushfires burning in the Great Southern and Wheatbelt.
Surfer who could see shark 'was going to have a crack' tells of narrow escape

Jan 22, 2025 | abc.net.au | Paul Cook |John Dobson |Samantha Goerling

A West Australian surfer says he is extremely lucky to have escaped injury after a shark charged at him and bit a chunk out of his surfboard. Albany man Dale Kittow was surfing about 150m off Cheynes Beach, an idyllic tourist spot about 50 kilometres east of the south coast city, when the shark attacked just before 4pm Wednesday. "I paddled over a wave and I saw this shark swimming 10 metres away," Mr Kittow said.
TWENTY FIVE YEARS OF KLEPTO-PUTINISM

Jan 4, 2025 | sundayguardianlive.com | John Dobson

Professor Mark Galeotti claims that Putin’s Russia is not so much a mafia state as a state with a nationalised mafia. LONDON: When I met Vladimir Putin back in 1994, any thought that this introspective, uncommunicative person would be President of Russia in less than six years’ time was simply absurd. The occasion was the visit of Prince Charles to St Petersburg in May of that year, the first by a member of the Royal Family since the 1917 Bolshevik revolution.
DON’T BLINK, THE MIDDLE EAST IS CHANGING SO FAST

Dec 21, 2024 | sundayguardianlive.com | John Dobson

The long-running Israel-Palestinian question is central to the stability in the region. LONDON: A year ago, I announced something simple,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week. “We would change the face of the Middle East, and we are indeed doing so. Syria is not the same Syria. Lebanon is not the same Lebanon. Gaza is not the same Gaza.
RUSSIA, IRAN ARE BIG LOSERS IN SYRIA

Dec 14, 2024 | sundayguardianlive.com | John Dobson

With the loss of Syria, Russia’s carefully cultivated image as a great power and reliable backer is now severely damaged. LONDON: The speed of events was simply breath-taking. For more than 50 years the Assad dynasty ruthlessly ruled over Syria with the help of a formidable security apparatus and the use of brutal force. Then, in the blink of an eye it was gone, shattering its supposed impregnable hold over the country.
RUSSIA’S ECONOMY IS BOOMING, SO WHY IS IT IN TROUBLE?

Dec 7, 2024 | sundayguardianlive.com | John Dobson

Putin’s 25 years at the helm have been little different to the Soviet era. He has again made Russia a military giant but an economic dwarf. LONDON: Sanctions! What sanctions? You could almost hear the sneer coming from the Kremlin last Sunday as President Vladimir Putin signed off Russia’s new budget, which had been approved a few days earlier by lawmakers in both the State Duma and the Federation Council.
Payit™ by NatWest Provides Interactive Investor With a Simple and Safe Way for Their Customers to Validate Their Bank Accounts and Enjoy Easy One Click Payments

Nov 27, 2024 | ffnews.com | Lauren Towner |James Hodgson |John Dobson

interactive investor (ii) has rolled out NatWest’s multi award-winning open banking payments solution Payit™, to enable their customers to deposit funds onto the investment platform immediately to allow investments to be made. Customers can now use Payit™ by NatWest to make a payment/a fund deposit online through the ii website and app.
NORTH KOREA IS CREATING A HEADACHE FOR CHINA

Nov 9, 2024 | sundayguardianlive.com | John Dobson

North Korea’s Kim Jong Un is currently courting two suitors, Russia and China, in a triangular relationship which is becoming problematic. LONDON: Among the many fables of Aesop, the famous storyteller who lived in Greece between 620 and 564 BC, is one of a man with two mistresses. One mistress was older than him, the other considerably younger.
Emperor penguin recovering in care after epic journey from Antarctica to Western Australia

Nov 8, 2024 | abc.net.au | Samantha Goerling |John Dobson

A bird carer in Western Australia says it is a privilege to care for an emperor penguin which made headlines around the world after an epic journey crossing the Southern Ocean. The penguin, which has gained the nickname Gus after Roman emperor Augustus, has been in the care of Albany's Carol Biddulph since it was found malnourished on a West Australian beach a week ago.
NORTH KOREA’S GIFT OF TROOPS TO MOSCOW MIGHT BACKFIRE

Oct 26, 2024 | sundayguardianlive.com | John Dobson

If the shells and other weapons do arrive, Ukraine will be more than compensated for North Korea’s entry into the war and Putin’s ruse may be seen to have backfired. LONDON: President Vladimir Putin is getting desperate. Since he ordered the full scale invasion of Ukraine more than two and a half years ago, a war he expected to win in just a few weeks and therefore a catastrophic misjudgement, Russian forces have suffered over 600,000 casualties, according to US intelligence sources.